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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "DR. RAPHEL JONES." <jonesraphel@netscape.net> (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 03:06:05 +0200
Subject: CONSIDER THIS


ATTN, NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY
CO-OPERATE HEAD QUARTERS
LAGOS-NIGERIA.


I WRITE YOU THIS LETTER WHICH I PRAY SHOULD BE
URGENTLY REPLIED. I GOT YOUR CONTACT DURING MY YEARS
OF SERVICE IN THE FOREIGN MINISTRY.

I DR. RAPHEL JONES PRESENTLY THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
IN THE NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY HEADQUARTERS, LAGOS
NIGERIA. I AM IN NEED OF YOUR GENUINE ASSISTANT AND
TRUST BECAUSE AS A TOP OFFICIAL OF THE RULING
GORVERNMENT, I WANT TO SAFE GAURD MY INTEREST IN
YOUR COUNTRY BEFORE THE END OF THE TENURE OF THIS
ADMINITRATION, MORE ALSO WE AS CIVIL SERVANT ARE
FORBIDDEN TO OWN OR OPERATE A FOREIGN ACCOUNT HENCE
A FOREIGNER IS NEEDED.

I PRESENTLY HAVE AN OVER INVOICED CONTRACT PAYMENT
OF USD38.5M(THIRTY-EIGHT MILLON FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND US DOLLARS) WHICH HAS REMAIN UNCLAIMED
SINCE 1997.MY SUPERIOR IN THIS PRESIDENCY HAVE
MANDATED ME TO PRESENT A HONEST FOREIGNER WHO CAN
CONVENIENTLY PROJECT THIS FUND FOR US IN HIS BANK
ACCOUNT IN HIS COUNTRY. I SINCERELY BELIEVE THAT YOU
CAN BE OF GREAT ASSISTANCE TO US. THIS IS WHY I AM
CONTACTING YOU AND ALSO REQUESTING FOR YOUR
DISCRETION, MATURITY AND CO-0PORATION.

MY SUPERIORS HAVE COMPLETED ALL ADMINISTRATIVE STEPS
TO SEE THAT THIS FUND RECEIVES ALL THE REQUEST
APPROVALS IMMEDIATELY YOU GIVE ME THE GO AHEAD. ALL
I NEED FROM YOU ARE THE FOLLOWING:

(1) YOUR FULL NAMES AND RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

(2) YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS FOR EASY
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN US.

I SHALL SEND YOU BY FAX OR EMAIL DETAILS OF THE
CONTRACT EXECUTED SOON AFTER I RECEIVE YOUR MESSAGE.
YOU WILL BE ENTITLED TO 30% FOR THE TOTAL FUND
IMMEDIATELY WE ARRIVE YOUR COUNTRY FOR SHARING. 10%
WILL COVER ALL MISCALLANEOUS EXPENSES WE SHALL DO
BOTH HERE AND IN YOUR COUNTRY.
PLEASE ENDEAVOUR TO REACH ME FOR MORE DETAILS. I
SINCERELY COUNT ON YOUR ASSISTANCE, REMEMBER I AM A
HIGHLY PLACED OFFICIAL AND EXPECT ABSOLUTE
DISCRETION FROM YOU IN ORDER TO PROTECT OUR HONOUR
FROM FOREIGN JOURNALIST WHO SEEK TO DESTROY MEMBER
OF OUR RULING CIVILIAN GORVERNMENT

THIS TRANSACTION IS HITCH-FREE, SO YOU NEED NOT
ENTERTAIN ANY FEAR AT ALL.

I EXPECT YOUR REPLY IMMEDIATELY TO MY PRIVATE
E-MAIL: jonesraphel@yahoo.ca

BEST REGARDS,

DR. RAPHEL JONES.



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